@Scott Trench and his team have done a good job with the sub to guys they got removed but came back a few months ago and of course the post on all sub to threads and at first just normal responses like they did not really understand the bizz..

I see the same open listing I would normally would list on list on Zillow from my colleagues.

So it more than just price at purchase its all the costs.. and MTR bring in double or more normal rent.

They should have at least communicated with you when they realized the costs were ballooning well above a normal sewer line repair cost, before proceeding with that work.

Your contractors statements and behavior seem to fall within the range of normal experiences in my opinion.

I think it's normal for people to try to sell you on something as there is not really a way to escape this.

Once you pay it off, it goes back to normal relatively quickly (within 1.5 months).

I've read/heard it somewhere that you should just refer to it as an additional deposit so that you can use the funds for non-pet related matters if the issue comes up and the normal deposit funds have been depleted. 

Cash flow works on an inverse with risk, somewhere in the middle is normally the best place to start.  

It’s a gamble, but just looking for ideas from more seasoned real estate minds.